San Miguel sets up race-to-4 showdown with TNT

San Miguel Beer coach Ato Agustin knew his team was destined to wrap up its 2010-11 PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series against Barangay Ginebra Sunday.

“Kapag dikit kompiyansa akong mananalo kami dahil kapag close game namin kami ang nananalo,” explained Agustin.

His intuition was proven right when his Beermen made all the right plays in the last 16 seconds to come out an 89-86 winner and finally wrap the best-of-seven series up, 4-2.

  
Arwind Santos finished with a game-high 25 points and joined hands with Jay Washington and Paul Artadi in giving the Beermen the needed push in the endgame. Prior to the game, SMB has won three previous close ones over the Kings, including a two-point decision in the series opener.

“It’s a great, great team effort today,” said Washington, who wound up with 12 points and a game-high15 rebounds in the final game of the series the whole team did not want to get extended.

“For us, this was Game 7,” said Washington. “We were not trying to play another game against Ginebra. For us this is our do-or-die.”

Ginebra, which averted an early exit with a 102-76 win in Game 5 last Friday, again fought tooth and nail. In the end, however, the Kings did not display the same poise the Beermen had and thus officially wound up third.

The Beermen, on the other hand, are gunning for their 19th title in their 32nd finals appearance overall when they battle early qualifier Talk N Text.

The opener of the race-to-four finals is set Saturday in Victorias City, the first time in more than 10 years a championship series game is being played out-of-town.

“Sa Talk N Text hind kami dapat mag-relax,” said SMB coach to Agustin. “Meron silang speed and quickness kaya kailangan maging ready kami.”

Mark Caguioa scored 21 points and Ronald Tubid 19. But the two were amply covered in the wind-up plays, forcing the Kings to look elsewhere for the much-needed points. For a while, the ploy worked.

Eric Menk capped an 11-point, six-rebound night with a three-point play in the last 38.1 seconds to tie the game for the 14th and last time at 85. But he turned out to be the goat after Washington’s putback of a Danny Ildefonso airball gave SMB a two-point lead.

Challenging Washington anew, Menk did not see the help defense by Paul Artadi, who tapped the ball away.

Santos then capped his heroics by snking a charity off Menk’s foul and then anticipated an intentional miss by Caguioa on the tailend of his charities to again go to the striper and practically seal it with another freebie, only 3.7 ticks left.

“Di gumive up ang mga players. Kahit underdog kami sa mga fans, we stayed focused,” said Agustin.

Tubid scored 12 of his points in the third quarter, fuelling Ginebra’s drive from a 51-58 deficit and into a 67-all count going into the fourth period.

Danny Seigle scored nine straight points, helping SMB battle back from a 32-38 deficit, before Racela boomed in a triple that gave the Beermen a 46-45 edge at the end of a testy first half that had players from both teams showcasing their desire in more concrete forms.

Cabagnot and Caguioa had some heated verbal exchanges that resulted in both players getting slapped with a technical foul each. Washington and Hatfield separately followed suit, also for the same offense.

Those early infractions did little to diminish the beauty of the game that saw each of the protagonists going through some ebbs and flows through separate players.

Caguioa already had nine points in the first period but it was Cortez who stoked Ginebra’s drive to as high as a 28-19 spread.

The scores:

San Miguel 89 - Santos 25, Hontiveros 17, Washington 12, Cabagnot 11, Seigle 8, Artadi 6, Ildefonso 4, Racela 3, Pena 3, Salvacion 0, Pennisi 0.

Ginebra 86 - Caguioa 21, Tubid 19, Hatfield 12, Menk 11, Cortez 10, Villanueva 7, Intal 2, Wilson 2, Miller 2, Wilson 0, Aquino 0.

Quarters: 23-28, 46-45, 67-67, 89-86

SOURCE: www.snowbadua.com

Llamados evens the series

Defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace nearly blew a 21-point lead in the third quarter but hung on to beat top seed Talk ’N Text, 98-93, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum to reduce their semifinal showdown in the PBA Philippine Cup into a best-of-three affair.

Both teams are tied with two wins apiece heading into Game 5 on Wednesday also at the Big Dome.
After scoring just nine points in Game 3, James Yap – the reigning MVP – exploded with 26 points, including a three-point play off Kelly Williams that gave the Llamados an 84-78 lead with 4:51 left.

The Tropang Texters had earlier come to within three points, 78-81, on a jumper by PJ Simon with 5:20 left in the third period.

“We had a good run in the third, but momentum shifted to Talk ’N Text (in the fourth period),” B-Meg rookie coach George Gallent said. “It’s good that the boys had the heart to win this game.”

“We’re not making our shots. We relaxed a little bit on defense (in the fourth quarter). I can’t say anything, the boys gave their all,” Gallent added.

Yap, who averages 16.5 points this conference, said that Talk ’N Text gave him a different look on defense in a 78-92 loss in Game 3, but B-Meg’s coaching staff did a good job to give him an open shot.

“Na-surprise kasi kami sa defense nila (in Game 3), nag-double team.

Pero naka-adjust kami,” said Yap, who went 10-of-21 against the defense of Jimmy Alapag, Aaron Aban and Rich Alvarez.

B-Meg also got solid contributions from its bigmen, particularly veterans KG Cañaleta and Marc Pingris, as well as sophomore Rico Maierhofer, who had three crucial baskets – a putback and a pair of two tip-ins.

Ahead by just four points, 94-90, Maierhofer’s tip-in off a missed triple by Yap gave the Llamados a 96-90 lead with 33.8 seconds left in the game.

“Yun ang role ko, more on offensive rebound,” said Maierhofer, who had 10 points and seven rebounds, including six offensive boards. “Before I came in the fourth quarter, coach told me to just to my thing, which is get rebounds.”

Cañaleta, a four-time Slum Dunk champion, finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, his first double-double in two seasons, while Pingris had 13 and 11 boards, his first double-double this conference.

From a 20-15 advantage after the opening quarter, B-Meg increased its lead to 48-35 as Yap and Cañaleta went 5-of-5 from three-point territory.

Talk ’N Text coach Chot Reyes said B-Meg did a very good job offensively, but credited his players for fighting back. They actually had a chance to move even closer but the breaks of the game, he said, went to B-Meg.

The scores:

B-MEG DERBY ACE 98 — Yap J. 26, Cañaleta 19, Simon 16, Pingris 13, Maierhofer 10, Allado 8, Villanueva 5, Timberlake 1, Yap R. 0.

TALK ‘N TEXT 93 — Alapag 22, Peek 17, Fonacier 15, Castro 11, Reyes 11, Williams 6, Aban 5, Carey 3, De Ocampo 2, Dillinger 1, Alvarez 0.

Quarters: 20-15, 48-35, 76-57, 98-93.

Source: www.snowbadua.com

Hontiveros and Washington help SMB take Game 2 against BGK

Barangay Ginebra is treating Jay Washington with little respect and paying dearly for it.

Washington had another spectacular performance, providing the offense when San Miguel Beer needed somebody to take charge as the Beermen scampered to a 2-0 lead Friday with a 108-102 victory against the Kings in Game 2 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Araneta Coliseum.

The San Miguel forward went 10 of 25 from the field and teamed up with Dondon Hontiveros in the fourth quarter to riddle the Kings with three-pointers that propelled the Beermen to a comfortable 92-81 cushion and took away the fight from their never-say-die rivals.

Washington had 11 points and Hontiveros, who went 6-of-9 from 3-point range, had 12 in that decisive quarter.

Washington, the top pick in the 2005 Annual Draft, and Hontiveros shared scoring honors with 29 and 28 points apiece, respectively.

Washington’s output matched his career-high he recorded in Game 1 of the semifinals of the same conference against Talk ‘N’ Text two seasons ago. For Hontiveros, it was a conference-high.

“During the huddle at the locker room I told the boys this [Game 2] is the key to entering the finals,” offered SMB head coach Ato Agustin after the game. He said he was particularly pleased with his players not losing their composure.

Notwithstanding their comfortable lead in the series, Agustin remains cautious going into Game 3 on Sunday.

“Di naming iniisip yun. We’ll just take it one game at a time,” he said.

Alex Cabagnot, the hero of Game 1, scored 15 points and had five assists and Dorian Pena grabbed 15 rebounds as the Beermen won the rebounding battle for the second straight game, 51-48.

Rudy Hatfield recorded a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds to show the way for the Kings, who are hard-pressed to win on Sunday if they intend to turn the series around.

A confrontation between SMB’s Danny Ildefonso and Ginebra’s Rico Villanueva early in the third quarter typified the fierceness of the series between the league’s two most popular teams Ildefonso was slapped with a flagrant foul 1 for that incident and because of a technical foul he incurred earlier, he was eventually banished from the court with still 6:18 to play in the third.

“It was a great win for us tonight. It was good to see the guys respond after Game 1. We’re all focused and played on the same page. We knew how important this game was,” said Washington.

“The series is not over yet. But if we can get up 3-0 we could take the fight out of them,” he added.

A jumper and 3-pointer by Cabagnot gave SMB a 54-45 lead but the Kings responded with a 16-2 run in a four-minute stretch to grab a five-point lead.

The Kings, who have now lost all their four matches against the Beermen this conference, had a 70-56 lead after Willy Wilson made two free throws with 56 second remaining in the third.

But Hontiveros completed a three-point play 17 seconds later and after Barangay Ginebra missed on two attempts, Olsen Racela, who is set to retire after the conference, knocked in a running 3-point shot at the buzzer to give SMB a 72-70 lead after three. SMB never trailed after that. (DBC)

The scores:

San Miguel Beer 108 - Washington 29, Hontiveros 29, Cabagnot 15, Santos 9, Pena 7, Yeo 6, Racela 3, Miranda 2, Seigle 2, Ildefonso 2, Pennisi 2, Artadi 1, Salvacion 1.

Barangay Ginebra 102 - Hatfield 20, Villanueva 17, Tubid 16, Miller 16, Caguioa 13, Intal 8, Helterbrand 7, Wilson 5, Cortez 0, Menk 0, De Ocampo 0.

Quarterscores: 32-23, 49-43, 72-70, 108-102

- www.snowbadua.com

Cabagnot plays hero anew as SMB takes Game 1

For the third time in the tourney, San Miguel Beer point guard Alex Cabagnot knocked in the game-winning shot at the buzzer.


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Cabagnot shook off main defender Ronald Tubid then beat the help defense of Rudy Hatfield in a layup as San Miguel nipped Barangay Ginebra, 86-84, in Game One of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals showdown at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.

“The team gives me the thrust and confidence to do what I have to do. They’re giving me that and I’m paying back,” said Cabagnot.

The Beermen blew away a 14-point spread early in the fourth quarter but preserved the win with Cabagnot delivering the winning basket after Ginebra fumbled its final possession.

Cabagnot himself forced the 84-all deadlock on an eight-foot jumper off a pick by Danny Ildefonso with 21.5 ticks left.

Ginebra coach Jong Uichico immediately called a timeout and ordered a last-shot play.

Alas, Hatfield, after receiving the inbounds from Mike Cortez, threw the ball away on a miscommunication with Mark Caguioa.

Regaining possession, San Miguel went to Cabagnot who once again showed grace under pressure, scoring the winning basket on a gutsy drive.

“Ginebra is such a tough team to put away. We led by 14 but they’re right back in the game in the last two minutes. Good thing, Alex is always there to save us,” said San Miguel ace forward Jay Washington.

Cabagnot had the same exploits in a game each versus Alaska Milk and B-MEG Derby Ace in the elimination round.

Washington led all scorers with 19 points while Cabagnot added 15 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Sunday Salvacion fired away 11 points coming off the bench while Arwind Santos and Dondon Hontiveros chipped in 10 apiece.

Caguioa, Willie Miller, Enrico Villanueva and JC Intal scored at least 10 points each for the Kings.

Before the game, Santos was given the Rain or Shine-PBA Press Corps Elims Top Peformer award, beating Alaska's Joe Devance and Talk n Text's Harvey Carey in a close race.

The Beermen found a good rhythm in the third quarter, getting a 10-point spread, 73-63, going into the final canto.

The San Miguel starters got into the groove in their return from the halftime huddle with Washington and Cabagnot making nine points each in the third period.

The SMB reserves put in big help as the Beermen fought the Kings to a 43-all deadlock in the first
half.

Salvacion went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and led the Beermen with a total of eight markers in the first 24 minutes of play. (SB)

The scores:

San Miguel 86 - Washington 19, Cabagnot 15, Salvacion 11, Santos 10, Hontiveros 10, Seigle 6, Pena 6, Ildefonso 4, Racela 3, Artadi 2, Yeo 0, Miranda 0.

Ginebra 84 - Caguioa 16, Miller 15, Villanueva 13, Intal 10, De Ocampo 8, Cortez 7, Helterbrand 6, Wilson 4, Tubid 3, Hatfield 2, Mamaril 0.

Quarters: 21-22, 43-43, 73-63, 86-84

-www.snowbadua.com